TDK Optical Media Sales Dip

Tokyo — Sales of optical media declined “slightly” in the fiscal third quarter at TDK, as sales of blank CD-R discs were lower in the period.

The optical media decrease, combined with year-on-year drops in sales of audiotapes and videotapes, resulted in an overall third-quarter recording media and systems segment slide at TDK, down 23.3 percent to $294.5 million from $383.9 million.

TDK’s recording media segment registered a widening operating loss in the third quarter, ended Dec. 31, up to $22.4 million from a loss of $7.5 million in the year-ago period. While sales volume of DVDs increased sharply, due to expanding demand, unit sales prices declined.

Nine-month recording media segment sales dropped 14.5 percent to $839.7 million, down from $982.4 million in the same period in 2003. The operating loss for the nine months climbed to $51.6 million, more than double the operating loss of $25.1 million in the same period a year earlier.

Consolidated TDK sales in the third quarter dipped 4 percent to $1.7 billion from $1.8 billion. Operating income came in at $161.6 million for the three months, down nearly 8 percent from the $175.3 million in the same three months the previous year. Net income slipped 13.6 percent to $118 million for the quarter, down from a year-on-year $136.6 million.

Over nine months, consolidated TDK sales were about flat, off less than 1 percent to $4.77 billion from $4.81 billion in the same period in 2003. Operating income for the nine months was $421.5 million, up 3.4 percent from the $407.5 million in the same nine months the prior year. Net income edged downward 3.9 percent to $310.1 million from $322.7 million the previous year.